Midnight Watch Girl

Posted by Lauren

This will be kind of random – that’s just how my life is these days!

On Sunday I arrived home from Monterey and wanted to go to the gym, but I also wanted to veg out on the couch with Nicole. The latter won that battle. On the plus side, I leisurely made my lunches for the week after a quick grocery store trip with Nicole. I also caught Mad Men’s season finale live, a true treat since that’s the one show that I find difficult to watch online fo’ free!

I spent Sunday night blogging about Megan’s bridal shower and my time in Monterey… As I typed away, I heard something funny outside my window, took note of the time (~11:30) and dismissed it. Man, I wish I had reacted a leeeetle differently!! < < foreshadowing!

I woke up early on Monday, carpooled into work with our neighbor Nick, and this carrot!

An a.m. carrot keeps hunger at bay while cranking out 4+ miles on the treadmill at 6:40 am (did you think I was going to say ’6:40 pace’? bahaha)

I have a theory that the work gym’s foundation is on an incline, because running on their treadmills at my standard 2.0 incline is really really tiring. What gives?

Despite the fact that my pre-made ground turkey + spicy veggies combo waited patiently in the fridge all morning, I decided to ditch my tupperware and join my team for an appreciation lunch in Palo Alto. The admin selected a fancy Italian restaurant, Il Fornaio (multiple CA locations).

- great for large groups during lunchtime
- really cute outdoor patio with a nice fountain
- tasty olive bread
- fresh pasta, always a good thing
- mentioned in Steve Jobs’ autobiography (insta-popularity)

(Snapped this photo before the majority of people arrived… Sneaky!)

In addition to a few bites from the antipasto platter (prosciutto, grilled artichoke, caprese calda), I ordered the Salmone con Spinaci – grilled salmon over organic baby spinach with red onions, mushrooms, toasted walnuts, and warm vinaigrette.

I didn’t like this at all. The salmon was incredibly dry and thin, the spinach was drenched in the warm cold vinaigrette, and I only saw 2 toasted walnuts. I should have ordered pizza! Someone at our table did and it looked muuuuch better.

Can I segue real quick to today’s lunch’s appetizer?

FREE Baked Lays and coffee (with a side of the coolest PC ever – HP Envy – aka MacBook Pro’s cheaper, almost as sexy, cousin). My vending-machine-refill-surplus timing is impeccable!

Right, so. This morning I went for an early run outside of work (remember the evil gym incline foundation issue?)

The weather was perfect!

My shirt reminded me that I am seriously slacking on the Portland recaps!

Whoops. This weekend, I promise maybe.

Two early morning runs means one thing: I’m getting to bed before midnight! I really struggle with this and I’ve felt a lot more rested the past few days. Hopefully I can keep it up. One thing that helped was getting in bed earlier (rocket science, huh?). Instead of staying up in the family room, I’ll hang out in my room. It’s almost too simple ;)

About that ‘something funny’ I heard outside on Sunday night….. It was a quick crash!, some soft girly giggles, and then a car driving away. A part of me thought it might have been a hit and run, but it didn’t seem loud or dramatic enough. I took note of the time and then looked out of the window, but the car had already driven off. The following day, we noticed that the side rearview mirror of Nicole’s car was smashed. :(

Punks. I think it was an act of vandalism, because of the giggles, but it could have been an accident. Either way, I think I might need to go into night owl mode and scour the San Jose suburbs for the culprit(s).

Cool. I love dressing up in stealthy costumes.

(Halloween 2006 with Kerry, who is visiting THIS weekend!!)

- Lauren